Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are microscopic devices, particularly those with moving parts. MEMS became practical once they could be fabricated using modified semiconductor device fabrication technologies, normally used to make electronics. Thus, a MEMS may be built into a substrate as a component of an integrated circuit, that is diced into a semiconductor chip that is subsequently mounted in a package.
Mechanical stress and other external mechanical influences introduced to a package may inadvertently be transferred through the package to an integrated MEMS element, such as sensor, and, more particularly, to a pressure sensor. This transferred mechanical stress may affect the operation of the MEMS element or induce an shift (e.g., an offset) in a sensor signal that may lead to incorrect measurements.
For example, semiconductor pressure sensors have a pressure sensitive element arranged to measure an absolute pressure or a relative pressure (e.g. the difference between two pressures). A problem with many pressure sensors is that the sensor measures (or outputs, or gives) a signal, even in the absence of a pressure (or pressure difference) to be measured. This offset may be the result of mechanical stress and/or deformation of the housing (e.g., the packaging) of the sensor. The housing-stress/deformation will typically also cause a stress-component at the sensor surface where the sensitive elements (e.g., piezo-resistors) are located, and thereby cause an offset error, a linearity error, or even a hysteresis error to the output signal.
Therefore, an improved device capable of decoupling mechanical stress from an integrated MEMS element may be desirable.